On December 30, 1891, Private Allen Walker was carrying dispatches in the border areas of Texas when he encountered three well-armed Mexicans he knew to be in league with rebel forces. "These fellows may trifle with the laws of their own country, " he later recalled, "but by God they won't do it with mine." With reckless boldness he confronted the three and demanded their surrender, which was ignored. He then fired on them, wounding one and shooting the horse from another, while putting the third to flight. Searching his two prisoners, he found some papers of extreme importance concerning the Garza rebellion which contained details of a plan for an organized invasion of United States territory. The extreme value of these important papers, upon review by his commanders, earned Private Walker our nation's highest award, the Medal of Honor.

When Allen Walker died on September 11, 1953, at age 87, he was the last surviving Medal of Honor recipient from the Indian Campaigns, and the last surviving recipient to have earned the Medal of Honor for actions prior to 1900.

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